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Look at me, I am the Life Total Now

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Counters Tap/Untap Wither

LegalizeRanch0311

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Creature (23)

Sorcery (9)

Land (36)

Artifact (12)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Vhati il-Dal

Enchantment (13)

Instant (4)

Planeswalker (2)

Maybeboard

Creature (2)

Enchantment (1)

MFW someone sits down with Atraxa Counters Hello! If playing a commander that gets roasted in his own flavor text is for you, welcome to the wonderful world of Vhati il-Dal! Just as Commander Greven il-Vec himself says, "'Don't think,' interrupted Greven. 'It doesn't suit you.'". While Vhati il-Dal is one of my all time favorite commanders many people may just overlook him at first glance. But in that easy to forget nature there is one thing we can use to our advantage. We can utilize the oft referenced "element of suprise". He can do some insanely powerful things, and your opponents may not realize until it's far too late. They swing into a creature expecting to trade? Not with Vhati out. They gained 130 life last turn? Tree of Perdition has something to say about that. With Vhati the name of the game is control, as he has some glaring holes in his plan that we'll go over in a little bit.

enter image description here We want to get Vhati out as early as possible. So we run cards like Channeler Initiate, Rampant Growth, and Farseek to ensure Vhati comes out at least by turn 4 if not earlier. Once Vhati is out you'll want some form of board control as well, such as Trigon of Corruption or Screams from Within. Being able to control the board state early is the name of the game as Vhati can struggle if creatures get counters or too many are on the board. If you happen to get a form of protection along the way, such as Desert or Caltrops to dissuade attackers this will help keep your life total padded while transitioning to mid-game. Things like Swiftfoot Boots or Saryth, the Viper's Fang to protect Vhati or other -1/-1 counter enablers are also ideal, as this deck heavily relies on both the commander and some form of damage or -1/-1 counters to control the board. Once your opponent's boards are clear, you are free to start digging for Tree of Perdition, or some way to build your own board state such as Flourishing Defenses, Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons or Nest of Scarabs.

enter image description here Around this time in most games it will become painfully clear what makes Vhati lacking. Vhati simply doesn't have the best answers to decks that can go really wide or can modify their creatures' P/T. Having a card advantage engine such as Sylvan Library, Phyrexian Arena, Chevill, Bane of Monsters, Big Daddy Yawg, or Generous Patron will help smooth out any unfortunate draw steps. Cards like Wickerbough Elder, Tree of Perdition, and Grismold, the Dreadsower can help slow down or remove noncreature decks before they can get their win conditions online. While cards such as Aether Snap and Toxic Deluge can stop +1/+1 counter enablers in their tracks or completely wipe token decks from existence. If they are a creature strategy and you have a -1/-1 counter enabler on board, this is where Mimic Vat, Necroskitter, and Obelisk Spider become huge value engines, allowing you to slowly sap your opponents or steal their creatures along the way.
When you drop Tree of Perdition First things first let's talk about Tree of Perdition, considering the deck's name derives from the ability of Tree with Vhati to make any opponent's life total 1. This is an incredibly fragile combo, considering how many moving parts are needed to even pull it off. But make no mistake, this is a quick way to end games, especially with some form of untap available see:Thousand-Year Elixir or Patriar's Seal. Next up is Big Baddy Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. I cannot stress how insane he makes this deck; not only is he a card draw engine, he can turn Vhati into a death laser mowing down your opponent's creatures. Simply play any token creator that triggers when you place -1/-1 counters on a creature and Yawgmoth can wipe their board without you losing much in the process. Next up is a pivotal card for this deck,Horobi, Death's Wail. Horobi allows us to stop equipment, auras, or targeted sources of pump your opponents may have. Without Horobi many decks can easily counter Vhati's unique brand of removal, but he also serves as a way to make many of our cards that target creatures into clean removal. Another card worth mentioning is Thornbite Staff, as it is quite a potent tool with our suite of pingers and -1/-1 counter enablers. With just Screams or Yawg, Thornbite could be your opponents' worst nightmare, using Vhati's ability and untapping him ad nauseam. Lastly, a cute little interaction worth mentioning is Carnifex Demon and Blowfly Infestation easily removing a creature while giving back a -1/-1 counter to Carnifex to do it all over again.
enter image description here In summation, while Vhati is far from some kind of EDH boogeyman he certainly holds his place in my heart (and my playgroup's minds when they play against it). He can simultaneously play both control and combo all while accruing value along the way making him both versatile and fun. While he is far from some kind of cEDH list, he is certainly optimized to run as effectively as you can with a strategy such as this one. I hope you enjoyed the breakdown of one of my favorite commanders of all time, feel free to leave any input or a like if you enjoyed the deck tech!
Well so far all we have is Drop of Honey and while it's incredibly tempting to add if only for the memes, the price alone makes it a hard bargain. If you truly love the deck and happen to have Arabian Nights cards like Drop of Honey lying around, it is for sure a worthwhile addition. For my current financial situation and lack of time for commander I think Drop of Honey is gonna stay in the maybeboard for me. If you have any other suggestions for the deck, let me know down below, and thanks for reading. Recently I've been on the fence about Massacre Girl but the fact she can (In an average game of commander) end up removing our own commander, I think she'll remain off the maybeboard for now.

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92% Casual

Competitive

Revision 13 See all

(1 year ago)

-1 Mimic Vat main
+1 Mimic Vat main